Fuel crisis: Why do motorists panic?

So why do motorists panic and head for the pumps, the moment they are told there is plenty of petrol around?

The answer according to a leading psychologist is that most motorists are in the grip of a never-ending addiction to their car.

'The problem is that motorists use their cars as a security blanket. They become extremely dependent on them, and if the car is taken away from them, they feel they cannot go to work or take the kids to school or even go around to the supermarket,' said Professor Cary Cooper at the University of Lancaster.

So the worst thing that anyone can do is to draw attention to the fact that their car use is being threatened, he claimed.

'That is why when the Government told people not to panic as there was plenty of petrol around, it was inevitable that there would be a panic.'

He said that only about 10% to 20% of people panic. 'Most people would carry on. But the moment they drive past a garage where there is a queue, their courage disolves and they feel they should join the queue.....just in case petrol runs out.'

'All you need is about 10% of people to lose their head and then it sets off a panic.'

The Scottish and Westminster governments could not have been more clear that there was plenty of petrol around. Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister said on Friday: ' There are substantial and ample stocks of every variety of fuel and petrol.'

In London Business Secretary John Hutton said that he had been advised that there was sufficient fuel to re-supply forecourts ahead of the industrial action. The result: Panic.

Since last Sunday there has been a run on pumps in Scotland with garages putting up prices and in some cases rationing supplies.'

'The best thing would have been to say nothing, but that of course would be impossible because the union's main weapon is publicity,' said Professor Cooper.